The Boston Globe has reported that last year members of the Mormon Church posthumously baptized Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter captured and killed in Pakistan in 2002, allegedly by 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheik Mohammed.

When informed of the news, Church officials denounced the act as "a serious breach of protocol."

In an email to the Globe that strikes exactly the right tone, Pearl's parents politely but firmly laid down the law to their son's posthumous baptizers:

"We appreciate your good intentions but rest assured that Danny's soul was redeemed through the life that he lived and the values that he upheld. He lived as a proud Jew, died as a proud Jew and is currently facing his creator as a Jew. For the record, let it be clear: Danny did not choose to be baptized, nor did his family consent to this un-called-for ritual."

Pearl's widow, Mariane, echoed the sentiments of Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel by suggesting that Mormon presidential hopeful Mitt Romney use his public position to speak out against the posthumous baptism of Jews. She told the paper:

"Mitt Romney could do that, just in order to apologize as a member of the church to the families, for whom it's extremely upsetting."

She also noted than Pearl "would laugh" if he knew he'd been baptized.